“His father thought the same way.” Kyle admitted. “It’s not an excuse,” he added quickly, “but I’m not as surprised as I should be.”
· · - ·?· - · ·
The Chief of Staff personally greeted us when we arrived at the hospital, and I thanked him for his assistance. He then gave us some babbling speech about how Sanford recognizes and appreciates their benefactors, and that it hadn’t been a problem to provide exceptional care to Mrs. Landon because they always provide exceptional care.
Kyle rolled his eyes and cut him off after five minutes of ass kissing disguised as a snail-paced tour.
“Can you take us to my sister?”
“Oh, of course. Uhm.” He looked down at he clipboard he was carrying and then looked around nervously.
“You don’t know which room she’s in, do you?” I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose.
“I’m so sorry, I thought it was on this sheet.” He admitted and wiped at the sweat that had formed on his forehead.
“It’s fine. No one expects the Chief of Staff to personally know which room every patient is in.” I assured him, “but can you get us someone who does?”
“Kyle?” I heard a familiar voice call from the doorway of what appeared to be a cafeteria. We turned to look, and to our relief, we found Mrs. Walsh standing there. “It is you!” She beamed and rushed to us. “I’m so glad you are both here.” She steppedback and gave me a knowing look, “You are in trouble with Melanie…” she warned.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.” I joked and kissed her cheek. “Mrs. Walsh, this is the Chief of Staff here at Sanford, and he personally assisted with arranging all of Melanie's care today.” I introduced them, and the pudgy little man beamed with pride.
You could tell that in his younger years, he had been a leader in his field and that recent years had left his pride and self-esteem a little deflated. Being appreciated and acknowledged had given the man an extra inch in height since we had arrived, and his toothy grin had taken five years off of his face. Since Mrs. Walsh was able to lead us back to Mel’s room, he bid us a good day and strolled back to his office. Bellowing hellos to everyone he passed.
“What an odd man,” Felicity said once he was out of sight. Her voice held no judgment; just an observation.
“Yup.” Kyle agreed. “where’s dad?”
“He’s in line for coffee. Duh.” She joked, and Kyle shook his head with a grin.
“Of course.”
We followed her into the cafeteria and spotted Mr. Walsh right away. I waved to him and then took a step forward, only to have a small body crash into mine. I reached out instinctively and grabbed her shoulders to keep her from falling.
A young blonde woman giggled and apologized as she swept the hair out of her eyes and took a step back. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't match the face to a place.
“I am so clumsy!”
“Are you alright?” I asked politely.
“Yes, thank you for catching me.” She smiled and then trailed her eyes down my body. “I’m Angie.” She stuck out her hand, and I eyed it with a growing unease.
At first glance, she seemed perfectly fine, but there was a glint in her eyes that made me uncomfortable.
“Griffin.” I said and quickly shook her hand.
“It’s nice to meet you.” She dropped her voice and octave, “do you believe in fate?”
“No.” I said abruptly and side-stepped her, “I have to go.” I hurried away from her, but could feel her eyes on my back the entire time we were in the cafeteria. I wasn’t a stranger to being hit on, so I didn’t understand why this time had felt so wrong.
Maybe because Melanie is somewhere in this building because of a health scare?
Maybe.
35-Ben
One week after hospital discovery.
It had been a full week since I discovered Melanie’s secret, and I could still feel the underlying current of rage flowing through my body. I had almost confronted her back in North Dakota, but Frank had talked me out of it. He convinced me to hold off until we could meet face to face so that we could use this information to our advantage with the element of surprise. I had never heard the man so excited about a betrayal before. Apparently, he’d been sure that we were both going to jail, but now, he was confident that he could force her to settle.
